American Recordings (album)
American Recordings | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | April 26, 1994 | |||
Recorded |
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Studio |
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Genre | ||||
Length | 42:45 | |||
Label | American | |||
Producer | Rick Rubin | |||
Johnny Cash chronology | ||||
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American series chronology | ||||
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Singles from American Recordings | ||||
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American Recordings is the 81st album by American country singer Johnny Cash. It was released on April 26, 1994[1] by American Recordings, after it had changed its name from Def American.
The album marked the beginning of a career resurgence for Cash, who was widely recognized as an icon of American music but whose record sales had suffered during the late 1970s and 1980s.[2]
Background
Cash was approached by producer Rick Rubin and offered a contract with Rubin's American Recordings label, better known for rap and heavy metal than for country music. Rubin had seen Cash perform at Bob Dylan's 30th anniversary concert in late 1992, and felt Cash was still a vital artist who had been unfairly written off by the music industry.[1] Suffering from health problems and recovering from a relapse of his drug addiction, Cash was initially skeptical. The two men soon bonded, however, particularly when Rubin promised Cash a high level of creative control. Rubin told the singer: "I would like you to do whatever feels right for you",[1] and Cash decided to record the first solo album of his career without any accompanying musicians. "Sitting and talking and playing music… that was when we got to build up a friendship," Rubin recalled. "My fondest memories are just of hanging out and hearing his stories. He didn't speak much but, if you drew him out, he seemed to know everything. He was shy and quiet but a wise, wise man."[3]
Recording and production
Under Rubin's supervision, Cash recorded most of the album in his own Tennessee cabin or Rubin's home in Los Angeles, accompanied only by his guitar. This was a return to Cash's earliest recording style. His first producer,
"Tennessee Stud" and "The Man Who Couldn't Cry" were recorded live at the
Two songs on the album had been recorded by Cash previously: "Delia's Gone", for the 1962 album
The album cover was photographed while Cash was visiting Australia, at
Critical reception
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [citation needed] |
Entertainment Weekly | A[10] |
Los Angeles Times | [11] |
MusicHound Country | 5/5[citation needed] |
NME | 9/10[12] |
Pitchfork | 8.2/10[13] |
Rolling Stone | [14] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [citation needed] |
American Recordings received nearly universal acclaim from critics.[1] Q magazine deemed it the year's most sincere and ambitious record,[15] while NME found it "uplifting and life affirming because the message is taught through adversity, ill luck and fighting for survival".[12] David Browne, writing in Entertainment Weekly, said Cash remained a captivating singer throughout the austerely arranged country ballads and bizarre reflections, calling the record "his most relaxed and folkiest album in three decades".[10] In a rave review in Rolling Stone, Anthony DeCurtis hailed it as one of Cash's greatest albums because of his self-possessed, "biblically intense" take on traditional folk songs and Rubin's no-frills production: "American Recordings is at once monumental and viscerally intimate, fiercely true to the legend of Johnny Cash and entirely contemporary."[14] Mark Cooper from Mojo called it a "breathtaking blend of the confessional and the self-mythologising".[1] In the Chicago Tribune, Greg Kot wrote that Cash's singing was effectively dramatic throughout "the quagmire of humor and bloodshed, pathos and treachery evoked by these songs",[9] while Los Angeles Times critic Randy Lewis said they "peer into the dark corners of the American soul" on what was a "milestone work" for Cash.[11]
AllMusic's Mark Deming wrote that the album "became a critical sensation and a commercial success, though it was overrated in some quarters simply because it reminded audiences that one of America's greatest musical talents was still capable of making compelling music, something he had never stopped doing even if no one bothered to listen."[8]
At the end of 1994, American Recordings was voted the seventh best album of the year in the
Track listing
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Recording date | Length |
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1. | "Delia's Gone" | Johnny Cash, Karl Silbersdorf, Dick Toops | December 5, 1993 | 2:18 |
2. | "Let the Train Blow the Whistle" | Cash | December 5, 1993 | 2:15 |
3. | "The Beast in Me" | Nick Lowe | December 5, 1993 | 2:45 |
4. | "Drive On" | Cash | December 6, 1993 | 2:23 |
5. | "Why Me Lord" | Kris Kristofferson | December 7, 1993 | 2:20 |
6. | "Thirteen" | Glenn Danzig | December 7, 1993 | 2:29 |
7. | "Oh, Bury Me Not" (Introduction: "A Cowboy's Prayer") | John Lomax, Alan Lomax, Roy Rogers, Tim Spencer | May 17–20, 1993 | 3:52 |
8. | "Bird on the Wire" | Leonard Cohen | December 6, 1993 | 4:01 |
9. | "Tennessee Stud" | Jimmy Driftwood | December 3, 1993 | 2:54 |
10. | "Down There by the Train" | Tom Waits | December 7, 1993 | 5:34 |
11. | "Redemption" | Cash | December 6, 1993 | 3:03 |
12. | "Like a Soldier" | Cash | December 6, 1993 | 2:50 |
13. | "The Man Who Couldn't Cry" | Loudon Wainwright III | December 3, 1993 | 5:03 |
Personnel
- Johnny Cash – acoustic guitar, vocals, main performer, liner notes
- Rick Rubin – producer
- Jim Scott – mixing
- David Ferguson – engineer
- Stephen Marcussen – mastering
- Christine Cano – design
- Martyn Atkins – art director, photographer
Charts
Album –
Chart (1994) | Peak position |
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Top Country Albums | 23 |
Billboard 200 | 110 |
RPM Country Albums (Canada) | 9 |
RPM Top Albums (Canada) | 72 |
Certifications
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
United Kingdom (BPI)[18] | Silver | 60,000^ |
United States | — | 236,000[19] |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
References
- ^ ISBN 978-1906002367. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
- ^ Turner, Steve (November 2003). "Fade to Black". Third Way. p. 11. Retrieved September 11, 2018.
- ^ Rees, Paul (October 2009). "The Q Interview: Rick Rubin". Q. p. 98.
- ^ Cash, J., & Carr, P. (1997). Cash: The autobiography (p. 408). San Francisco, CA: HarperSanFrancisco.
- ^ "The Beast In Me". Song facts. Archived from the original on 18 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
- ^ "Glenn Danzig". Futhermocker.dk (interview). Denmark.
- ^ Presenters: Glenn Ridge (2011-06-19). Weekends with Glenn Ridge. Melbourne, Australia. 97:10 minutes in. MTR.
- ^ a b Deming, Mark. "American Recordings". AllMusic. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
- ^ a b Kot, Greg (April 28, 1994). "The Master". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
- ^ a b Browne, David (April 29, 1994). "American Recordings". Entertainment Weekly. New York. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
- ^ a b Lewis, Randy (April 25, 1994). "Album Review : A Walk on the Dark Side (****) : JOHNNY CASH; "American Recordings" ( American )". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
- ^ a b NME. London: 46. October 8, 1994.
{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link) - ^ Horton, Kaleb (April 8, 2018). "Johnny Cash: American Recordings Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
- ^ a b "none". Rolling Stone. New York. May 19, 1994. p. 97.
- ^ Q. London: 117. September 1994.
{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link) - ^ "The 1994 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
- ^ "CMT 40 Greatest Albums: Episode". CMT.com. Country Music Television. Archived from the original on February 28, 2007. Retrieved February 28, 2007.
- ^ "British album certifications – Johnyn Cash – American recordings". British Phonographic Industry.
- ^ "8ask". Billboard. 19 February 2003. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
External links
- "The LP Discography – Johnny Cash". Archived from the original on 2007-02-26.